Declawed

Question
Hi,  I recently took in a stray cat with all four paws declawed.  He was hanging out in my mom's yard for a while before I found him.  He crawled right into my lap and just about broke my heart.  He was completely flea-ridden and pretty skinny.  I took him to the vet to have him checked out, and nothing came up.  I gave him Advantage and the fleas are gone.  He is also gaining weight.  The problem is his aggressiveness and his neediness.  It has been about 2 weeks, and he is still on my mom's porch.  I have to keep him there until I move in March.  (I already have 2 cats in an apartment.)  He got out of the porch and back outside one time, and was hissing like crazy when I was trying to get him to come back inside.  But he will promptly jump on my lap if I sit down.  He came back to the porch later in the day by himself and meowed at my mom to let him in.  I'm sure he was just outside for so long that he wants to be out there every once in a while.  But being declawed I do not want him outside at all.  He is also very territorial of the cage I took him to the vet in, and in the beginning he would hiss anytime anyone got close to it.  The hissing is slowly getting better, but unless he is on someone's lap he wants to be in the cage.  I am just concerned that he is going to continue this even after I finally move him in with my boyfriend and I and our 2 cats.  I'm pretty sure the behavior is because of the declawing and am totally disgusted at anyone who would declaw all four paws.  Do you know of any way to re-socialize him so that he acts more like a cat again.  (he also refuses to play, and has absolutely no desire to play with catnip)  I just want him to be a kitty.  :(  Oh, the vet said that he is probably about 5 years old.

Answer
HI Noralee,

What a wonderful person you are to take in this poor kitty. I don't know who would mutilate a cat like that and then abandon them outdoors, defenseless! He is very lucky you came along.

I think he will need time to adjust to his new surroundings and if you treat him as if he was a feral cat (which he is not we know because he is declawed) take things slowly and build his confidence.

First, put his cage in a quiet room if you can and make it his cave. Leave the door open so he can retreat there when he wants, and if he hisses at people who come near just ignore him - let him have one place to call his own. This will make him feel far more secure.

Take a look at both these articles, on socializing feral cats and on introducing cats to other cats, try following some of the guidelines here and see what result you get. I think approaching him as you would a feral cat is appropriate because he has the same lack of trust a feral cat does - because he knows he can't really defend himself.

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/socializing_ferals.html

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/introducing_cats.html

Also there are some flower essences that I've had good success with in helping cats like this. I don't know if you have used them before but they are homeopathic/herbal remedies that really seem to work well for cats. I moved 3000 miles by car (4 days drive in a  car) with my cats and used Bach's "Rescue Remedy" a calming formula, and it worked very well, the cats were calm like they never are in a car - usually constant yowling. They are also helpful with shy underconfident cats like this guy! Try adding 2 drops of "larch" flower essence to his water dish or canned food. Larch helps alleviate nervous tension and build confidence. There is also a company that makes a flower essence specifically for declawed cats and the psychological problems created by it, I have not used this myself yet but you might want to check it out:

http://www.spiritessence.com click on cats and behavior and then find the declaw remedy.

Finally, 2 weeks is really not that long for a cat to adapt to a new home. Cats are very territory-oriented as you know, and I usually tell adopters to expect several weeks of hiding and expect 6 months before the cat starts to act normal in the home. You can certainly try to help him relax more quickly using the techniques in the articles I gave you and trying the flower essences, but time, patience and persistence will be the biggest factor.

Good luck and thank you for taking in this poor abandoned kitty!